What is the Hirshberg Entrepreneurship Institute?

The Hirshberg Entrepreneurship Institute is focused around a high impact 3-day bootcamp conceived by Gary Hirshberg in 1998 based on his experience leading Stonyfield Farm from its start as a 7-cow operation in 1983 to its current nearly $400MM annual sales level. Previous Institutes have served hundreds of entrepreneurs across numerous business sectors in CA, NY, NH, MA, Toronto, Vancouver, and Auckland, NZ. The organization also offers a series of workshops for entrepreneurs and growing brands.

HEI 2023 Recap

Guest Testimonials

Why Should I Attend the HEI?

By creating a highly interactive, intimate venue for networking, storytelling, and problem solving, the Institute offers a safe, stimulating environment for hundreds of for-profit and not-for-profit entrepreneurs to learn about financing, marketing, organizational challenges, finding personal balance, managing change, and the many other areas that are fundamental to growing a business. The “case” method approach ensures a practical and grounded real world experience. Participants take home a wealth of pragmatic and useful ideas and strategies that can be immediately put to work in their expanding enterprises.

Who Should Attend the HEI?

The HEI is designed for any for-profit or non-profit entrepreneur in any sector who is trying to improve the effectiveness of your enterprise and to expedite your learning curve. Past attendees have included leaders from the CPG, service, digital, communications, media, retail, transportation, and agriculture sectors. We’ve had CEO’s, CFO’s, COO’s, CMO’s, farmers, teachers, students, activists, consultants, board members, investors and people contemplating a career change, all of whom have benefited from our focus on participants’ actual live cases. This allows us to bypass all of the usual jargon and platitudes and cut to real, high impact, and immediately useful advice based on panelists’ actual experience.

Who Should Attend

Case Studies

The Institute is built around cases submitted by attendees. Cases are real problems or challenges that you would like our panelists to address. Panelists will ask you clarifying questions and then provide feedback, and as time allows, audience members are invited to contribute as well.

Why Should I Attend an Online HEI Workshop?

Between bootcamps, HEI produces a series of online workshops. These 90-minute interactive sessions are jam-packed with pragmatic advice and behind-the-scenes insights from senior executives, experts, and thought leaders in the natural and organic products industry. Participation in these sessions offers an excellent return on investment of time and allows growing brands to participate remotely via Zoom.

TESTIMONIALS

I’m blown away. I love the collaboration and entrepreneurs learning from entrepreneurs, and actually investors learning from other investors as well. The kinship and the vibe here is so kind – I love it.

– Tara Burkley, New Hope Network

This is one of the rare opportunities in this industry to come and learn but not only learn from those you are trying to do business with but those who are doing business in the industry today. So you learn from your peers, you learn from industry luminaries, you learn from retailers… We have the opportunity to sit at tables with each other and have conversations. There’s nothing else like it in the industry.

– Elliot Begoun, TIG Brands

It’s super useful. It’s been very great. And the connections! Meeting the other people in the industry is always great, making those connections. Not only are we getting knowledge from the people running it, and the speakers, the people that have been brought in but also everybody in the audience has so much knowledge to share.

– Juan Ignacio Stewart, Frescos Naturales

I heard from so many people that this was the place to come for one-on-one advice, to really get deep knowledge about the industry, and to get tips from people who’ve been through every single cycle multiple times. And it’s true! I got all of that!

– Raina Kumra Gardiner, Spicewell

I think it’s a really rich group of people that all have really amazing experience and are all willing to share their stories. In the spirit of consumer packaged goods where everyone wants to help one another and support one another and be an uplifting community – it’s a really great place to be. It’s a network that we can continue to tap into afterwards.

– Eli Bank, Absurd Snacks

I came to the HEI to learn. It is THE place to learn if you’re launching any kind of natural or healthy or sustainable product, whether it’s food and beverage or any cleaning products or skincare products! This is the place to learn from others and to really meet people that can fuel you to keep going because it is a really challenging landscape right now and these are the moments that keep us all going.

– Melissa Martinelli, Superfrau

[HEI] has been unbelievable. For someone like myself who hasn’t been a part of a lot of CPG networking groups or even been around a lot of like-minded founders and those mentors or advisors, it’s been incredible – much more than I ever could have anticipated… I’m going to sum it up in a hyphenated phrase: life-changing.

– Tyshawn Bryant, Founder of Green Regimen

What is the Hirshberg Entrepreneurship Institute?

The Hirshberg Entrepreneurship Institute is focused around a high impact 3-day bootcamp conceived by Gary Hirshberg in 1998 based on his experience leading Stonyfield Farm from its start as a 7-cow operation in 1983 to its current nearly $400MM annual sales level. More than two dozen previous Institutes have served hundreds of entrepreneurs across numerous business sectors in California, New York, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Toronto, Vancouver, and Auckland, New Zealand. The organization also offers a single day version of the Institute and a series of workshops for entrepreneurs and growing brands

 

Highlights of Previous Institutes

May 1-3, 2023: Boulder, Colorado

May 9-11, 2022: Virtual

May 5-7, 2021: Virtual

May 7-8, 2020: Virtual

June 6-7, 2019: Boulder, Colorado

June 14-15, 2018: Boulder Colorado

If you registered to attend any of these previous Institutes, you may view recordings of these events on the Restricted Resources page .

About Gary Hirshberg

Gary Hirshberg is the Founder and President of the Hirshberg Entrepreneurship Institute and Co-Founder and Chief Organic Optimist of Stonyfield Farm, the world’s leading organic yogurt producer. He is also Founder and Chair of two nonprofit advocacy organizations: Organic Voices and the Northeast Organic Family Farm Partnership.

The author of Stirring It Up: How to Make Money and SaContact usve the World (Hyperion, 2008), Gary frequently speaks on topics including sustainability, organic agriculture and the profitability of green business. Gary has previously served on the Boards of many organic and natural brands including Annie’s, Applegate, Blue Apron, Forager Project, Honest Tea, King Arthur Flour, Late July, Orgain, Peak Organic Brewing, Sambazon, Sweet Earth Foods, Sweetgreen, and UnReal chocolates. He currently serves on several corporate boards including My Forest Foods (plant-based bacon), Tacombi (Mexican taquerias and products), Uncle Matt’s Organic (organic juices and beverages), Wildgood (plant-based ice cream) and Willa’s (organic oat beverages).

He has received 12 honorary doctorates and numerous awards for corporate and environmental leadership including a 2015 Champion for Children Award from Mount Sinai Hospital’s Children’s Environmental Health Center, a Lifetime Achievement Award by the US EPA and Fast Company Magazine named him one of the top ten “most inspiring people in sustainable food.” He is an Edmund Hillary Fellow in New Zealand where he has established an Organic Entrepreneurship Education Centre on a farm that he and his wife own near Motueka.

Hirshberg Entrepreneurship Institute
78 School Street, #1, Concord, NH 03301
info@hirshberginstitute.com
603-226-4408